School Newsletter 2023, Term 1, Week 4

Acknowledgment of Country

This newsletter comes to you from Jinibara Land. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples today. We are thankful to be able to work, learn and play on Jinibara land.

Principal's News - Belinda Nash

Dear Parents and Carers

This week, we look forward to hearing of the successes our regional swimmer have on Friday. We enjoyed our Year 6 recognition ceremony for their leadership roles and worked with our teachers to develop our professional knowledge of using personal learning plans to identify the unique differentiation needed for individual learners to experience success. I love that our staff can lead by example by being lifelong learners in their profession. Our commitment to using evidence based practices benefits every child in our school. In the near future, we will be offering parent workshops to help you understand what is happening at school, and how you can support your child's learning at home. 

Annual Improvement Plan: Over the next few weeks, our Positive Behaviour for Learning Team (PBL) will be attending formal training to help them implement the PBL framework across our school. Accessing professional learning to guide our implementation is the first step in this area of our Annual Improvement Plan. Already we have noticed a change in the confidence students have in their ability to transition between learning spaces quietly, safely and calmly. This means they arrive 'ready to learn' and teachers don't need to spend as much time assisting students to manage their own behaviour. Having more time to teach is always a good thing!

We have also commenced our work with our EAL/D Principal Advisor (EAL/D means: English as an additional language or dialect). With approximately 30% of Kilcoy State School students speaking an additional language or dialect, this presents the need to teach in quite specific ways to meet the language demands of speaking, listening and writing in Standard Australian English (SAE). 

As always, we will continue to work hard to ensure that every student is succeeding by providing an environment that promotes equity and excellence. 

Volunteering at school: We would love to make contact with any parents, carers or community members who may be available to volunteer to support our students. Please access the digital form below to let us know what you can offer.

Attendance: Our current attendance rate is 92.9% however our goal is 95%. We have some work to do to ensure that all our students are here every day for the learning they need to be successful. When a student's attendance rate is less than expected, we will contact parents to discuss what supports are available to help them improve their child's attendance rate. Being at school for 95% of the time means that out of the 50 days each term, students are away for less than 3 days. 

While we recognise that illness, in all forms, can impact attendance, we would like to normalise the fact that most students do attend school every day. It can be helpful to talk about this with children who are reluctant to attend as they may have a perception that days off don't matter. 

Unfortunately, school absenteeism can impact significantly on students' learning and wellbeing. Research shows that in Queensland, higher student attendance is associated, on average, with higher student achievement. Additionally, attending school every day helps children to build social and emotional skills such as communication, teamwork and resilience. If your child does not want to go to school, please contact the office for assistance and support.

If your child will be absent, please make sure you call the absence line on (07) 5422 3366 to let us know why they are away so that it can be recorded accurately.  

*For the second week running, Year 2 students currently have the best attendance rate at 95.32%

Community engagement & collaboration: It was really lovely to see more parents coming to the P&C Meetings. While it might be a little daunting at first to think about joining a group, they are just lovely friendly bunch of parents who just want to help make our school better for all our kids. We would hope that all parents can be involved in some manner throughout the year. There is no long term commitment and we recognise that work needs can get in the way too. Parents are very welcome to bring your children, they can play in the book room, right next to where we meet.  

There are many ways you can help that don't require turning up to an afternoon meeting too. Please look out for the volunteer lists for the upcoming one-off events. All you have to do is donate 30 minutes of your time and your child will feel like the most special kid in the whole school because Mum or Dad is helping at school. I can't tell you how often I hear that and it's really lovely. 

Thank you to our P&C for their planned financial and social contributions to the school. We are excited to see the new equipment and facilities discussed. If you have ideas on what we need more of at school, the P&C are the place to make it happen! 

Kind Regards, Mrs Nash, Principal. 

DP News - Mrs Lisa Webster

Curriculum: Our teachers have been involved in CASW - Collaborative Assessment of Student Work sessions this week. This is a time when teachers discuss student progress and pedagogy to ensure the best for all students in their class.  It was pleasing to see photos of Mr Hunt's year 4 students interacting with the Learning Wall in their classroom. Please see the photo below. 

NAPLAN: This week, students in years 3 and 5 participated in an online practice test to familiarise them with the testing procedure. This was very successful and we were pleased to see an improvement in their confidence working online. On Wednesday 15th March, the official NAPLAN testing will start. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or your child's teacher. 

Kind Regards, Mrs Webster, Deputy Principal.

STLaN: Support Teacher Literacy and Numeracy

STLaN Update

Our 2023 Sound Writes Program is up and running for our Year 1 and Year 2 classes.

Sounds-Write is a linguistic phonics program that Kilcoy State School employs to ensure students become proficient readers and writers.

The program has been developed for beginning readers in the first three years of schooling. It also offers highly effective intervention for children at all year levels who have fallen behind in their reading and spelling.

Prep Classes A and B will commence their Sounds Write Program next week. They will start learning the sounds:  a /i /m /s /t.

Here is a web page link to a FREE Sounds Write Online course suitable for parents and carers.

The course consists of online parent training videos. The videos give explicit instruction and modelled examples to teach you how to support your child to read and write.

Help your child to read and write

Sounds-Write Phonics Program, Initial Code, Units 1-7

https://www.udemy.com/course/help-your-child-to-read-and-write/

Happy reading everyone – Karen Burton (STLaN)

District Swimming Carnival and Swimming Squad

Swimming squad was supposed to start this week but it seems the weather had different ideas and presented us with an electrical storm that made it unsafe to walk to the pool. Due to the storm forecast, swimming squad needed to be cancelled on Tuesday 14^th February.

NEW Swimming Squad dates and times are now as follows:     

• Tues 21^st February 2:00 – 2:50pm
• Wed 22^nd February 2:00 – 2:50pm
• Tues 28^th February 2:00 – 2:50pm                    

The District Swimming Carnival is on this Friday 17/2/23. We wish Josh, Claire, Charlee, William, Ava, Hudson, James, Stevie, Emma, Fletcher and Quinton the very best luck, in addition to knowing that their training and skill will have been incredibly valuable supports when competing.

The Valley Champs carnival is on Friday 3/3/23

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL)

The focus for our next two weeks of learning will be on Playing Safely and Sensibly. Students will all be provided with explicit lessons on what this means, and what our school expectations are. These expectations are the same for every student in the school, and the messages provided by staff will be consistent to support this. 

When students are provided with a highly predictable environment, they are able to reduce their working memory demands, when making decisions that keep themselves and others safe. Our consistent messages help deliver this. 

All students should aim to be able to commit to the following statements:

• I make safe and sensible choices
• I think before I act to keep everyone safe
• I don’t stop others from having fun
• I use equipment the right way
• I play in the right area
• I use kind words with everyone
• I listen to and follow staff direction

We ask that Parents assist us by discussing these statements with your children, and let them know that these expectations are needed to help our school function well.  When children see and hear that their own parents give the same messages as school, they are more committed to positive action when at school. 

-The Kilcoy State School PBL Team

Year 6 Student Leadership Ceremony

It was wonderful to see so many parents and community join us to celebrate our 2023 School Captains' group, School Leaders and 2023 Yr6 Leaders. Local reporters were there to cover the event and recognise these students so be on the look out for our new celebrities! 

This year, we have provided Student Leaders with the opportunity to develop their leadership skills in order to meet their personal goals. We recognise that leadership skills are learnt, not inherited. These students are taking an opportunity to take control of their future, and we celebrate their willingness and maturity in this area. 

Parents and Citizens Association (P&C)

We have some exciting news!

The P & C are hosting a Slime Spectacular Fun Run Obstacle Course on Friday 31st March!

On Monday, students will receive a letter and sponsorship booklet with instructions on setting up their cybersafe, online fundraising profile. At the end of the fundraiser students can order up to a total of 5 prizes based on their donations received. They will also receive free sunglasses and a rainbow headband on the day of the event.

As well as individual student prizes, the P & C will be holding a class Zooper Dooper party each week leading up to the event for the class who raise the most sponsorship for that week! And even more exciting is the major class prize for the most funds raised over the entire fundraising period. The highest achieving class will be treated to a VIP tent on the day of the Fun Run. This will include treats and the opportunity to run the course first, as well as the super exciting chance to slime one of our teachers!

Here's to a colourful 2023! We can't wait to fundraise with you.

-The P&C Fundraising Team

Sporting Celebrations!

We were very excited to find out that one of our School Captains -Charlee, recently competed in the Little Athletics QLD SunCoast Regional Championship on the Sunshine Coast. She placed 3rd in the High Jump.

She will now be heading to Townsville next month to compete in the LAQ State Championships. Best of luck Charlee! 

Administration of medications in schools

Administering medication at school
If you require staff to administer medication to your child at school, please contact the school office in the first instance to discuss your child’s requirements. 
Please note, school staff will only administer medication that: 
•    has been prescribed by a qualified health practitioner (e.g. doctor, dentist)
•    is in its original container 
•    has an attached pharmacy label. 
Office staff will ask you to complete and sign Section 1 of the Administration of medication at school record sheet.
N.B. If your child requires more than one medication, you will need to complete a form for each medication.
Requirements for students at risk of anaphylaxis
If your child is at risk of anaphylaxis, it is important for you to provide the school with your child’s emergency medication and their ASCIA Anaphylaxis Action Plan, completed by your doctor. This Anaphylaxis Action Plan provides the instructions for the school to administer your child’s medication in an emergency, which is specific to respond to their health condition.  
If you have any concerns about your child’s health condition, please contact the school office on 07 54 22 3333
Requirements for students at risk of asthma
If your child has asthma and requires assistance to administer their medication, it is important for you to provide the school with your child’s emergency medication and their Asthma Action Plan, completed by your doctor. An Asthma Action Plan provides specific instructions for the school to administer your child’s medication. 
We recognise that some students are capable of managing their asthma without adult assistance. If you are confident that your child can confidently, competently and safely self-administer their asthma medication, let the school administration know. The school will record your decision and will not require your child’s Asthma Action Plan. Please note that if your child requires assistance in an asthma emergency, staff will provide Asthma First Aid. 
If you have any concerns about your child’s asthma, please contact the school office on 5422 3333
Providing medication to the school
Before you provide the school with your child’s medication, check the expiry date to ensure it is in-date and there is enough for the agreed time period. It is also a good idea to take a note of the expiry date so that you can replace the medication before it expires.
Please note, school staff will not administer medication that you can buy over-the-counter at chemists and supermarkets (e.g. paracetamol, eye drops, cough syrup) unless it has been prescribed by your child’s qualified health practitioner. For example, the school would administer paracetamol to a student only if it has been prescribed by their dentist to be taken for a short time after dental treatment.
School staff are bound by these regulations and we hope that all parents will acknowledge and cooperate with these rules.
It is safer for all students if you can provide medication to the school in person (rather than send medication with the student). If you can’t provide the medication in person, contact the school to determine the easiest and safest approach for the school to receive the medication.
If you believe your child is capable of self-administering their own medication at school, please contact me to discuss, as this requires my approval.   
When your child’s medication is no longer required to be kept at school, please collect all unused medication.  Thank you for assisting the school in keeping our students safe and healthy.
Yours sincerely 
Belinda Nash, Principal.

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. If you have any suggestions for content, please forward them to admin@kilcoyss.eq.edu.au